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Accountant's Involvement in AIS Acquistion

Accountants are obvious candidates to be involved in the acquisition of a new AIS. They can be involved in the purchase in many different ways including the following:
  • User - As one of the main users of the AIS, an accountant can help to articulate the reasons the old system is not fulfilling the needs of the organization.
  • Analyst - Accountants can help to conduct a needs analysis to ascertain features the new system should include.
  • Purchaser - Accountants may be involved with the actual purchase of the new AIS and will have to help narrow down the selection of systems to those that offer the features needed by the organization and then analyzing them to make the final choice.
  • Implementer - As a knowledgable user of Accounting Information Systems, accountants may be involved in the implementation process for the new system. During the transition period, all users will have to learn and become comfortable with the new system and accountants can help make this transition smooth.
  • Consultant - Consulting firms often have positions for accountants. They become part of the team that helps clients select and implement new systems.
  • Internal Auditor - Internal auditors can be involved in AIS acquisition in two ways. They can act as consultants in order to help with the acquisition process, or they can audit the process to ensure that correct policies and procedures have been followed.
  • External Auditor - External auditors can identify the need for a new AIS as well as determining the effect of implementing a new AIS including the effect on overall risk and internal controls.

Achieving AIS Acquistion Objectives

Suprisingly, many organizations fail to acheive their AIS acquisition objectives for a variety of reasons. Here are a few of them:
  1. Lack of senior management support for and involvement in AIS acquisitions.
  2. Shifting user needs.
  3. Emerging technologies.
  4. Lack of standard project management and AIS acquistion methodologies.
  5. Failure to appreciate and act on strategic, organizational, and business process changes that may be required.
  6. Resistance to change.
  7. Lack of user participation.
  8. Inadequate testing and user training.